1) Soldiers of Solidarity: Up from below, rank and filers struggle for a futureby C. Alexander

"On October 8, 2005, Delphi Corporation filed for business reorganization under chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code... The following month during a November 2nd speech to union leaders, international United Auto Worker (UAW) president Ron Gettelfinger, called for a "work to rule" in which auto workers would do the bare minimum of labor required of them... Within days, militants from the auto industry gave meaning to Gettelfingers words. In a non-UAW sanctioned meeting auto workers said they would organize to fight Delphi. Using Gettelfingers statement as justification, the militants have embarked on a campaign to build a grassroots fighting movement whose aim is to engage and prepare fellow rank and filers for an unfolding struggle to resist corporate attacks both within the auto industry and on the broader working classes."

"Our perspective... was simple: What will it take to win this strike? It seemed to us that the strike had to impede NWAs ability to operate, it had to start hurting the company. It had to spread to the others sectors of workers at the airports... It had to become an issue of concern and attention for working people generally. It had to create a crisis for the larger capitalist class beyond the NWA board and large stockholders."

Juan Cole of Informed Comment blogs about the recent arrest of Miami men on terror charges and their purported intention of attacking select U.S. sites including the Sears Tower in Chicago. A brief scan of the net and various political blogs/websites has turned up little on this group, their connection to international networks, or the reasons for their activity. I post Cole's piece not because I agree with all his points but more from the lack of discussion elsewhere on this case.-RX................................................

From Informed Comment:

Whereas most terrorism is a form of educated, middle class politics, this particular group clearly grew out of the grievances and resentments of race and class inequality in the United States.

The sister of one was just on MSNBC saying that he deeply resented Bush spending money to drop bombs on poor people who could not defend themselves, while depriving the poor in the United States of any support. "We are not capable," she said. This is a theory of class war, connecting the poor of Kut with the poor of Miami's inner city. The city, by the way, has horrific levels of unemployment.

The position of the poor and workers in particular is deteriorating in the US, as more and more of the privately held wealth is concentrated in the hands of a white, privileged, few. The unions have been gutted, the minimum wage is inadequate, and racist attitudes are reemerging on a worrisome scale. Cities such as Detroit, New Orleans and Miami continue to witness enormous strains coming mainly from racist attitudes. In this case, the best counter-terrorism would be more social justice.

In March 2006, the online journal, The Blanket, took the decision to publish the cartoons that had caused such controversy earlier that year. As a result, the cartoons were published on a weekly basis alongside profiles of 12 writers who had signed an anti-totalitarianism manifesto – a manifesto written in response to the reaction that the cartoons had generated. Here, Anthony McIntyre, co-editor of The Blanket, talks to The Henry Jackson Society and explains why he felt the cartoons had to be published and the wider debate with which they connect.from the interview:Q. Can I ask you more generally how the experience has affected your political views? Also could you say something as to who has been supportive of you and who has been opposed? And has that been surprising?A.M. Well, the journalistic community, in particular, have been very supportive and it’s interesting too the way the debate has broken down in ‘the Left’. The ‘irrelevant Left’, who are intent on remaining irrelevant, have attacked us. Those who are searching for a different ‘Left’ – a more creative, inventive and imaginative ‘Left’ have been supportive of us. So, in many ways, you find us appearing on websites and appearing in Indymedia, where you might not previously have expected to see The Blanket featured. And out of all this I think there is increasingly a huge cleavage developing here about human rights and freedom of speech, which doesn’t break down along the traditional ‘Left-Right’ divide.

Jun 7, 2006

My name is Saku Pinta, I'm a Wobbly and anarchist from Thunder Bay, up here in Northwestern Ontario, Canada. I've been active up here for about 5 years with our local Indymedia collective, but more recently, I've been concentrating/tangled-up in school stuff and academia (I'm doing post-grad studies this fall). One project of note that you may be interested in is a documentary film I'm working on about Finnish-Canadians in the Spanish Civil War.

I just thought I'd toss out a quick e-mail to the folks involved with the Three Way Fight blog. I had some trouble finding a contact e-mail address until I read the last post and followed the link to your bibliography page.

In any case, I really enjoy the blog, check it regularly. I find it interesting and informative and I'm in agreement with the "them, them, and us" geopolitical analysis; something I first came across in an AFA pamphlet entitled "My Enemy's Enemy." I can't stress enough how important I think this analysis is in the context of contemporary political and economic tensions and the responses from different political actors. In some ways, I feel that the world today resembles Europe in the 1930's with the oil crisis and environmental catastrophes replacing crop failure and drought, and a new set of scapegoats representing "internal" and "external" enemies along with different language and symbols of emerging far-right movements.

I know that time constraints, other committments, and, in general, life, has a habit of getting in the way of projects like this, but I wish that the blog was updated more frequently. I say this because, unfortunately, there seems to be an alarming increase in fascist and far-right activity on the global scene, and this activity should be put on the radar screen of people in the autonomous/anarchist left. Three examples immediately come to mind: the American Christian youth organization "BattleCry" and parent organization "Teen Mania Ministries" and increased fascist activity in Germany (with the lead up to the World Cup) and the former Eastern Bloc countries (mainly Poland and Russia).

Anyhoo, keep up the fantastic work!

Solidarity,Saku--"Liberty without socialism is privilege, injustice; socialism without liberty is slavery and brutality." - Mikhail Bakunin